Imprisoned Film Director Jafar Panahi Goes on Hunger Strike

Imprisoned Film Director Jafar Panahi Goes on Hunger Strike

Imprisoned film director and screenwriter Jafar Panahi went on a hunger strike in Evin Prison in protest against his prolonged incarceration and judicial official’s refusal to grant him bail.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Jafar Panahi went on a hunger strike in Evin Prison.

His wife, Tahereh Saeedi, mentioned his prolonged incarceration and the judicial official’s refusal of his temporary release as the reason for this hunger strike.

Announcing his hunger strike, Panahi wrote in an open letter: “according to law, once my request for a retrial was accepted and my legal case was delivered to a court branch for review, I should have been released on bail immediately. While we witnessed the execution of the innocent young men of our country within 30 days, by the interference of intelligence agents, delivering my case to a court branch took over 100 days.”

A while ago, the six-year sentence against Panahi was quashed by the Supreme Court o Iran and the case was delivered to Branch 21 of the Tehran Court of Appeals for a retrial.

Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison and banned from filmmaking for 20 years and leaving the country. This verdict was upheld on appeal. On July 11, 2022, Panahi was arrested in front of Evin prison to serve his sentence.

 

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